With three minutes to go, it looked like Kentucky was in the driver’s seat, heading toward its first SEC victory of the season. Then, disaster struck. On 2nd and 6, Cutter Boley dropped back and threw it deep, only for it to be intercepted by Auburn’s AnQuon Fegans. Sixteen yards into Fegan’s return, freshman wide receiver Cam Miller stepped up to save the day, forcing a fumble that was recovered by tight end Henry Boyer at midfield. The play ended up being a first down for Kentucky, a wild turn of events.
Auburn would get the ball back, but Kentucky’s defense held strong to seal the 10-3 win. Afterward, Miller received the game ball in the locker room from Mark Stoops.
“After I spoke to the team for a while, and we had our fun, I put Cam up there on my little bench, or my little chair, where I talked to the team,” Stoops told Tom Leach. “And he’s awesome. He gave a little speech to the team, and I presented him with a game ball. It was the first game ball we gave out this year. But I thought it was a pretty big play.”
Yes, it was. Stoops told reporters in the postgame press conference that Kentucky had been working on that play, a kill shot to put the game to bed, for a while; however, it completely fell apart, with Fegans scooping it up in open space. Miller, who played defensive back in high school, hunted Fegans down, punching it out from behind for Boyer to recover, which Stoops said is further proof of the true freshman’s toughness.
“How about that? We have to count on our offense to get the first fumble recovery of the season,” Stoops quipped. “But Cam, I can’t say enough about that play; it’s an effort play. But that carries over, instincts carry over. It’s just being a football player. It carries over to offense. It carries over to route running, but the toughness, the grit, and the moment’s not too big for him as a freshman, and to come back, spin back, and just punch it out like that was really the play of the game.”
Fittingly, Miller wore a Superman t-shirt under his jacket in postgame interviews. He said the play took him back to his days as a two-way player at Winslow Township in New Jersey.
“Just effort. Seeing the ball carrier with the ball kind of loose, and I just knew that if I was to get a hand on it, he’d let it go. [That] with some type of force, he’d let it go. In that moment, we really needed that, so I just wanted to do anything to help my team win.”
We didn’t get to hear the specifics of Miller’s postgame speech, but he said the atmosphere in the locker room was “juiced.” He also admitted this is the first time he’s ever gotten a game ball without scoring a touchdown. For a player like Miller, who only burst onto the scene three games ago, and a team like Kentucky, that’s struggled so much this season, it meant the world.
“It’s extremely special. Just a true testament to how hard work pays off. Just coming to practice every day, punching the clock. Getting one percent better and enjoying, learning from the older guys. Just getting better. Like I said, being around a good group of guys, this is a nice team. It’s just a blessing to be able to go out there and punch that clock with the guys every single game and every single week.”
